


Can you hold me?

by iranoutofstars



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-22 21:30:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17067494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iranoutofstars/pseuds/iranoutofstars
Summary: Penelope has a nightmare and has to check that Josie is safe. Josie can't sleep.Set after episode 1x06Really I just love these two.





	1. Restless nights

Penelope opened the door as softly as possible, knowing exactly what to do to avoid the screeching noises that it usually made. She looked around one last time before slipping into the silent bedroom and close the door behind her.

She didn't want to think about what would have happened if someone had caught her. It didn't get much more compromising than breaking into a room at 4 in the morning, but she just couldn't help herself.

Her eyes only needed a moment to get used to the darkness, but she couldn't wait. She knew where everything was placed anyway, she didn't need to see the beds to know where they were, every detail of that bedroom was engraved into her memory. Possibly for the rest of her life.

She kneeled next one of the beds, the one she knew was Josie's and she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She looked at the beauty, sleeping silently. She watched her soft features, those same features she used to caress and kiss everyday. She looked at her lips, slightly open and she thought back at the kiss they had shared early that evening, pondering once more what it meant. She looked at her chest raising and falling in time with her breathing and she sighed in relief.

She was safe. She was ok.

And Penelope really wanted to go, before anyone could catch her. After all, she had done what she came for. She had checked that Josie was safe. Now she could go back to sleep.

"What are you doing?" Asked a voice in a whisper and she nearly got a heart attack.

Shit.

Josie was awake and her big, beautiful eyes were staring right at her.

Shit.

"Oh, I..." She stammered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." She replied trying to stand up as quickly as possible.

"What are you doing here?" She asked again sitting up to look at her properly, there was no fear in her voice, just confusion.

"Oh," she said trying to find an explanation. But what could she say? There wasn't much she could say to explain. Her position was pretty incriminating.

"I'm sorry," she muttered after a moment. "I didn't mean to wake you." She added and Josie was still looking at her with that confused expression that made her look so cute.

"What are you doing here, Penelope?" She asked for the third time, because really, the girl had yet to provide some kind of explanation.

"I just needed to make sure you were ok." She said softly, not in the mood to lie to her ex about her intentions. "You can go back to sleep now, I was just about to leave. You need to rest." She added going towards the door and exiting the room as quickly as possible.

Once in the lit hallway, she rested her back against the wall, breathing heavily. What was she thinking?

The images of her nightmare kept flowing back into her head and Penelope was overwhelmed by the sense of loss she had felt watching Josie get buried alive in her dream. She quickly wiped away the two tears that had made their way down her cheeks, when the door opened and Josie stepped into the hallway.

Penelope turned around quickly, try to hide her face, but it was too late.

"Are you crying?" She asked in disbelief.

She tried to compose herself.

"Ehm, thanks for pointing that out." She said clearing her throat.

"What is going on?" Josie asked more confused than ever. She had never seen Penelope cry, not even when they were together.

"Nothing, everything's ok. You are fine." The raven-haired said quickly, hoping the shorter girl would drop the matter. "It's been an exhausting night for you. Why don't you go back to sleep?" She asked, impatiently trying to get out of the situation.

"I wasn't sleeping when you sneaked in my room." She said. "I couldn't fall asleep." She added honestly.

Penelope looked around the hallway once again, nervous. They really shouldn't be doing this. Not after the kiss they shared earlier. Not after the trying night Josie had.

"Can we go back to your room?" The brunette asked almost pleadingly. Penelope looked shocked.

"What?" She asked. **What?!** She thought.

"I could really use a talk and Lizzie isn't the best at listening." She said. She was too tired to try and use a polite way to say the same thing about her sister. She just needed to talk to someone and Penelope had always been very good at letting her vent.

"Oh," she said. **That's what she meant.** She thought. "Yeah, sure." She added even if she didn't think it was a great idea. They were both tired and emotional, she didn't think it was very wise, but Josie was asking her for something and she couldn't refuse. The walk to her bedroom was short and quiet, both girls were too engrossed in their own heads to say anything in that moment.

As soon as they reached the taller girl's room, Josie went straight for her side of the bad, or at least what used to be her side of the bad. So many memories came rushing back to both of the two girls that they were almost overwhelmed by it.

Penelope settled back in her bed, leaving as much space as possible between their bodies, trying to be respectful.

They stayed like that for a long moment. Silently staring at the ceiling.

"Can you hold me?" Josie asked in a soft voice and the raven-haired almost started to cry. She couldn't bear to hear the pain and insecurity in the shorter girl's voice. It was tearing her apart, but she didn't say anything. She opened her arms so that Josie could rest her head on her chest.

"I hate that you can still make me feel so safe in your arms." She said after a long sigh. "I almost wished I couldn't feel anything, anymore." She added.

So it was a test? Penelope was confused, but she didn't say anything. She just hold the girl, occasionally stroking her hair. Penelope had a feeling the brunette had yet to process everything that happened that day. She had an inkling the girl had just pushed down all of her emotions, trying to put on a brave face and telling everybody she felt much better, even if she didn't.

"You can tell me how you really feel, you know?" Asked Penelope after a long moment, so long that Josie had thought she was asleep. "You don't have to pretend with me." She added.

"My mom buried me alive." Josie stated after a moment spent pondering if to trust her ex or not.

"I know," she simply said stroking her back. "She's not going to win mother of the year." She added, trying to get a reaction out of Josie. Any reaction.

"No, she won't." The brunette agreed with a chuckle that quickly turned into a silent cry. And that was exactly what Penelope was waiting for. She smiled, sadly. Knowing that Josie was finally accepting all that happened that evening, taking it all in and feeling it. It was undoubtedly a lot of pain.

"You're safe now," Penelope whispered against her forehead. "Let it all out, it's ok." She added feeling the first warm tears wetting her neck.

Her heart ached in her chest, knowing that she couldn't do anything to relieve her from the pain, knowing that she had to stand there watching her suffer without doing anything but kiss her head and cradle her.

Josie didn't know for how long she cried in her ex's arms, she could barely remember where she was. She could only feel her pounding headache and the wet stripes on her face, drying quickly. Her eyelids were heavy and she only wanted to stop fighting to keep them open and just slip into a dreamless sleep. She could still feel Penelope stroking her back softly and she couldn't be more thankful for her in that moment, no matter how messy their situation was or how much she claimed to hate her, there wasn't another person around her that could make her feel as safe as Penelope and there wasn't another person in the school that could hold her and watch her cry for hours without complaining. Even her sister, though she knew she loved her, wouldn't have endured that. She would have told her to stop crying, to push it out of her head and never think about it again, but Josie knew she needed that.

"How do you feel?" Asked Penelope, sensing that the girl had calmed down.

"Emotionally drained." She replied with a big sigh. "I'm sorry about that." She said again, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"No need to apologize," the raven-haired told her honestly pushing her away for a second to look at her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair were a mess and still, in her eyes, was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

She dried the last traces of her tears and reached for the water on her night stand. "Here, you must be thirsty." She said hading her the bottle.

"Thank you, I think I just cried all the water in my body." She said only half jokingly. Penelope smiled, she was well-aware, her t-shirt felt completely drenched, but she didn't say anything not wanting to make her feel even more self-conscious.

"We should really try and get some sleep." She said instead, noticing Josie's tired eyes, feeling spent herself.

"Do you mind if I stay here? I really don't want to move now." She said and Penelope agreed, because she really didn't want her to move either. And it was almost six a.m. anyway.

"Of course." She said. "Goodnight." She added giving her yet another kiss on the forehead.

"Please, Penny, stop kissing me on my forehead like my grandma and kiss me goodnight properly." Josie snapped wanting, no, needing to feel the intimacy they once had.

"No," Penelope said, using every ounce of power in her body to deny the shorter girl.

"Not tonight, it wouldn't be right." She said, desperately wanting to just comply. "If when you wake up you'll still feel the same way, then I'll kiss you goodmorning." She promised. She wanted to kiss her the right way as something genuine, pure, not just to help her forget of the pain she just experienced.

"Ok," Josie said simply, her eyes heavy. "Goodnight then," she said kissing her cheek, by then she was barely able to keep her eyes open long enough to place her mouth in the right spot and the raven-haired stifled a giggle at how cute she was.

"I love you." She said before she could stop herself.

But Josie was already sleeping.

Or was she.


	2. Happy Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie and Penelope receive some visitors...

The door slammed open and Josie tried to pry her eyes open to look who was disturbing her comfortable sleep. Whoever it was, she wished they went back where they came from and leave her alone. The warm bed and the soft pillow and whatever it was draped over her stomach was everything she needed and wanted in that moment and the intruder was definitely disturbing her tranquility.

"Josie, there's a snake next to you." Said the voice, louder than she needed to be. Much, much louder. But Josie was awake in a second, screaming and beckoning against something behind her, something that had arms, something that was holding her. Someone? Penelope!

"Hilarious, Lizzie." Penelope said unamused and Josie looked between the girl in bed and her sister and she finally understand, it was just a dig at the raven-haired, she wasn't in any danger. She scoffed and lied back on the soft mattress, sighing heavily and covering her eyes with an arm, relaxing in Penelope's arms. All of what happened the night before came rushing back to her and she suddenly felt the urge to cry again.

"What did you do to my sister, satan?" Lizzie asked, words laced with venom.

Penelope desperately wanted to say something just as ill intended, maybe a dig about the fact that she was able to console Josie better than her, but she didn't want to betray Josie's trust, so she bit her tongue and maybe the inside of her cheek too. Just to be sure.

"Leave her alone, Lizzie, she didn't do anything to me." Josie muttered, clearly exhausted. The pounding headache had yet to leave her alone.

The blonde wasn't convinced, it was clear, it was written all over her face, but she didn't reply to her sister, instead she shouted something outside of the door and then went back to watch the two girls.

They were both desperately wishing the twin could just leave them alone so that they could go back to sleep, but the girl seemed to have other intentions. Soon enough someone else entered the room panting. Penelope opened just one eye to see who it was. Alaric and Hope were standing next to her bed now too.

"Oh, great." She muttered.

"Baby, are you alright?" Alaric asked kneeling next to the bed to look at Josie.  
"Yes, dad, I'm fine. Just very tired." She said. It wasn't a complete lie, she was physically fine and emotionally... well, she did feel slightly better than the night before.

"Oh, well, now that we found you, again," said Hope. "I'll go back to my room. Glad you are ok, Jos." She added exiting  the room as quickly as possible, feeling incredibly awkward in that situation.

"I think I'll leave you to sort this out and get something to eat for the both of us." Said Penelope sitting up in the bed, deciding that it was best to leave the family talk alone. "Do you need anything else?" She asked towards Josie while climbing over her to get out of bed.

"Just my morning kiss." The brunette said sitting up and three heads whipped to look at her.

"Now?" Penelope asked surprised. She definitely didn't forget about the conversation they had a few hours before, but she had hoped for some privacy.

Josie nodded with a shy smirk, which shouldn't be a thing, but she totally managed to invent it. It wasn't like they had never kissed in front of her dad before and maybe she felt like flaunting the new found intimacy with her ex, maybe she wanted to show how good Penelope could make her feel. Who knew she was so into PDA?

The raven-haired quickly looked between Alaric and Lizzie and then back to Josie who was looking at her expectantly. How could she refuse those eyes?

She leaned in, hovering over her face, just millimeters from her lips. If she had just puckered her lips they would have touched, but Penelope had other plans. Just before she could enclose those plump lips with her own, she moved slightly upwards and placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. Then she moved away, with a short laugh.

"See you in a bit." She said walking out of the room.  
Josie remained there, a goofy smile on her face, while her sister faked a gag noise to express the lack of approval in her twin's choice. Alaric, instead, was trying his best to contain his smile. He loved seeing his daughter finally happy.

"You are making a big mistake Jo," Lizzie said after a moment and Josie rolled her eyes, sighing deeply. "Don't you remember that she who shall not be named broke your heart?" She asked forcefully.

"I remember, don't worry." She replied trying to avoid yet another confrontation with her sister.

"Well, anyway," Alaric interrupted, throwing a stern look to his blonde daughter. "We were very worried about you when your sister didn't find you in the room." He said.

"I'm sorry," she replied and she meant it. "I couldn't sleep." She added to explain.

"So you went to the actual devil?" Lizzie demanded in disbelief.

"In case you didn't notice," said Josie trying to contain her frustration. "The devil actually did something to help find me. And the devil hold me while I was crying my eyes out because our mother tried to bury me alive. What did you do?!" She demanded angrily. So maybe Josie snapped.

She surely had to blame the lack of sleep. Or maybe she just had enough of her sister's lack of regard for her feelings.

Lizzie was looking at her as if she had just slapped her. Josie had never talked to her like that. She didn't know how to react, so she did what she did best. She made a scene. She stormed out, slamming the door shut with a wave of her hand.

Alaric closed his eyes, sighing deeply, knowing that he had to go after the blonde and tried to calm her down before she could destroy another part of the school.

"Next time leave a note or something, please." He said caressing her cheek. "I'm happy you are safe," he kissed her forehead. "And... Cautiously happy." He added with a soft smile and she smiled back, gloating in her father's version of approval of her love life.

He stood up and opened the door to walk out, revealing Penelope trying to enter the room with two plates in her hands.

"Oh, look, just in time." She said with a broad smile.

"You be careful." He said in a whisper and it was clear he wasn't talking about the plates, but he didn't say anything else. He threw one last glance at Josie and then he went to look after his other daughter.

"So, everything ok?" Penelope asked, stepping into her own bedroom.

"I talked back to Lizzie." She said matter-of-factly.

Penelope raised both eyebrows surprised, yet proud.

"Wow, sorry I missed that."

"I think I need more sleep." Josie said after a moment as if to justify her behavior. "And I think we need to talk," she added after a second. "But I don't know which one I need more." She confessed. The raven-haired laughed  softly and settled back in bed.

"Here," she said offering her a plate. "Let's start with food."

\--*--

Josie soon found out that she couldn't fall asleep again after the discussion she had with her sister, but she didn't want to leave her comfortable bed either.

"I still don't understand why you came into my room." The brunette said honestly.

They had been making small talk for the past hour, but Josie couldn't get the events of the night out of her head. "You looked so... Scared."

Penelope sighed, she knew the shorter girl wouldn't have dropped the matter easily.

"I told you, I was worried about you." She replied putting her empty plate on the night stand.

"Yeah, but you already checked on me, why check again?" She asked again confused.

"I had a nightmare about you." Penelope replied honestly, there was no point in avoiding the question any longer. Josie would just have kept on asking.

The brunette looked at her with a soft smile. That girl. She surprised her again.

As soon as Josie thought she had her figured out, she would pull something else out that left her head spinning. For a year, since their break-up, Josie had been convinced Penelope only saw her as a thing to play with, a fun way to pass her time, then she thought the raven-haired hated her and was taking every chance she had to get under her skin. Then again, it turned out she was looking out for her when she made sure she would win the election. And a couple of hours ago she said she loved her, so clearly Josie was out of her depth.

She was exhausted and sad, but above everything else she was confused.

She needed answers, desperately.

And she was going to get them that day.

"So you love me." She said, looking deeply into those dark eyes.

Penelope was surprised, she really thought the shorter girl was sleeping when she said that.

She cleared her throat, put an arm around Josie's shoulders and held her gaze firmly. She wanted to show Josie that she was telling the truth.

"I do."

"And you kissed me." The girl added.

"You kissed me back."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"That I don't understand." She stated simply. Calmer than she thought she would be.

She could see that the girl cared for her, but she couldn't forget the heartache either. "I don't understand any of it." She added. "I used to know you better than anybody else, you showed me a part of yourself that no one knows and you still manage to surprise me constantly, how is that?" She asked, but she wasn't waiting for Penelope to answer. "So I know that you never do anything without a reason, Penny, so why did you do all of it?" She asked and this time she looked at the raven-haired expectantly.

"You have always been the quiet one," she said , no trace of malice or laughter in her eyes, just the truth. "Lizzie was the one who would push her ideas down everybody's throat, no matter how crazy or insane and you were always there, one step behind following and cleaning up her mess. That's the first thing I noticed about you two when I met you." She said honestly. "And at first I thought it was normal, she was the outgoing one and you were the shy one and then we started to date and I discovered a whole new side of you that I would have never imagined existed. You are not shy." She said and talking about all of it seemed weird, as if it was a story written by someone else. "You can be just as loud and outspoken as your sister, but you never dared to be. She took that role and so you just bit your tongue and you let her be her true self while you had to keep quiet and follow her around." The thought of it all made her blood boil once again. "I was so proud of you when I heard about what happened at the council, you took a stand for what you believed in. Even with all the pressure from Rafael." She said honestly, she should've congratulated sooner, to be honest. She knew she wasn't making much sense, her speech was all over the place, but she knew Josie was understanding. She knew it by the look in her eyes. "I didn't break up with you because I didn't love you, I broke up with you because I needed to tear Lizzie's world down so that you could shine just as brightly as I know you can and I couldn't do that if I were with you, you wouldn't have let me. So I choose you over our relationship." She confessed.

Josie was speechless, she definitely didn't expect that.

"I don't know if that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard or the sweetest." She said honestly, still trying to wrap her head around it, she knew her ex was calculating and manipulative, but that was a whole other level.

"It can be both, if you want." Penelope replied with a laugh.

"It sure is contorted." Josie said.

"True. In my defense I didn't really expect you to get back with me after the whole thing. I hoped you could be persuaded to give me a second chance, but I wasn't too optimistic about it." She admitted with a sad smile.

"Well, you were right about one thing." She paused to look again in those dark eyes. "I wouldn't have let you tear Lizzie's world apart." She said. "And I still can't. She's my sister, Penny, I don't want her to suffer just so I can shine, as you put it."

And Penelope sighed deeply, it honestly felt like they were back together with them bickering about Lizzie, again.

"Josie, you were suffering so she could shine." She pointed out. "You wanted that spot on the council and you know she wouldn't have been as good as you in that seat." She said, trying to remain as calm as possible, she knew it wasn't Josie's fault, she was just too good, sometimes. "I am not saying Lizzie should be permanently suffering as you did, I would settle for a healthy balance." She said, although if her plan had happened to reverse the roles of the sisters and make Lizzie the quiet one, she wouldn't have been too disappointed.

"No suffering?" Josie asked suspiciously.

"Maybe a bit? Just as long as things settle." She replied squinting her eyes as if she was calculating.

"Healthy balance you say?" She asked again. "That doesn't sound too bad." She added and Penelope smirked.

"So you are on board?" She asked hopeful.

"As long as there is no tearing world's apart. We should talk to Lizzie and tell her what she is doing, I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose." She replied and the raven-haired smiled softly at her bleeding heart.

"Sure, 'cause she can be sooo reasonable." She said ironically.

"Hey!" Josie said warningly.

"Fine, but you should know that I'll do everything to give you what you deserve, so if she doesn't back down..." Penelope said.

"Yeah, yeah burning down stuff, I got it." She said waving her hand to make her stop talking. "Now that that has been cleared up, I really think you should kiss me goodmorning properly." She said smirking. "After all a promise is a promise."

Penelope looked at her, amused and incredibly happy.  
She didn't say anything else. There was no need.  
She grabbed the side of Josie's face to bring her closer and kissed her deeply. Both girls were smiling brightly against each other's lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think :)  
> Hope you liked :)  
> Honestly I'm obsessed with this couple..

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it :)


End file.
